Chipmonck (L) and Bob See, circa 1969.

Chris Langhart sent us the following information after the last issue incorrectly identified the date of the picture above.

After Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Melon, I went to Syracuse University where the TD disappeared in my first semester. I therefore was in charge of five theaters for about four years there. After that I went to NYC to become the technical director of NYU, a new professional program started by Dr.'s Hoffman and Corrigan. This program achieved its academic status by taking on the Tulane Drama Review, at that time highly regarded journal of theater literature which included 10 or 12 doctorate level professors. There were many professionals there in various fields of directing, acting, technical, design, dance, the usual cauliflower of talents. Wolfgang Roth [from Germany] designer of many Ford and Lincoln Mercury shows in those days ran the design department with appearances from Ming Cho Lee, Bob Guerra, Jim Hamilton and other known professionals. In the lighting department we had Jules Fisher.

I was pretty much low man on the totem pole in the TD department coordinating on-site productions. Among my students were John Chester, Bob Goddard, John Tedesco, Richard Hartman, Bob See, and others who now lurk around the industry. This was a high-powered class to be in charge of and their interests went through the wall into what was then the Fillmore East, absolutely next door on second Avenue. I became acquainted with the situation walking to work from Fourth Street near the Hells Angels abode passing the Anderson Theater where the basic nucleus of the Fillmore started. There I met John Morris, Chipmonk, and Bill Hanley, as a result of seeing a marquee on which there appeared "Joshua light Show." I could not imagine who could be making a light show than the one I had known from working at WRCT radio as chief engineer at Carnegie. So I barged in to discover Bill Swartsbach and the many modified Carousel projectors [to separate motor power from lamp supply] as the total amount of alternating current in the place was about two legs of 60A and everything else was DC. in about three or four weeks all of this moved up 2nd Avenue northward to the bigger Lows Commodore, directly next to NYU's building called Central Plaza where TV shows used to rehearse in those days (operated by Bernie Burns and Paul Stone with Ratner's restaurant on the first floor). At that time NYU School of the arts consisted of four floors above Ratner's and about 70 feet of frontage for classrooms on fourth street adjacent (three floors). During that time I had also been working (draftsman and pricing) at "Design Associate Scenic Studios," an IATSE and USA scenic shop. (Coming to know the Fillmore people resulted in involvement with Woodstock later on.)

I don't know how long before that time Chipmonk had been working in the East Village at various music venues under the title of "Chipmonk Industries." During the time I was teaching at NYU, we had various class projects to ensure that all the newcomers knew how to handle all the processes and machinery of stagecraft. In addition to electrical work and the study of various sorts of dimmers, we had a materials course doing welding of aluminum, and steel, making things of fiberglass, wooden picture frames and boxes, and foam rubber pillows with piping and covers. There were also costume construction courses (taught by Sandra Jones, who later became my wife). Various of my technical people were required to do these projects. In particular Bob See was first involved with the costume course where large strong hands were not the right tools for sewing sleeves into bodices. Moving now into more mechanical arts there were the boxes and picture frames which with nonuniform wood, needed to come out square with proper angles and no gaps. Among the various students, it was revealed to me that in these wood projects the degree to which the corners would not quite fit with the box because of warpage and the like was known among them jokingly as the "see factor."

This story comes to you as a correction for the caption of your wonderful photo of Bob See and Chip recently published. When Bob started his lighting business (touring with Dylan), he called it "See Factor Industries," a combination of the moniker among the students and the "Industry" part from Chip's concern. 

Lighting designer Chipmonck (Edward Herbert Beresford Monck) now resides in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to an architectural lighting designer, he is the Director of Production for the One Great Night on Earth Music Festival (http://onegreatnightonearth.com.au).